and over. thank you so much for starting your morning with us. state of the union with jake tapper starts at the top of the hour. but right now "inside politics" with john king. the democrats face off in new hampshire. >> i worry too much that secretary clinton is too much into regime change. >> i'm not giving up on libya. i don't think anybody should. >> plus the fifth republican clash reshapes the fight. >> can you support legalizing people in this country illegally? >> i understand that marco wants to raise confusion. i have never supported legalization. >> and bush takes on trump. >> donald trump is a jerk. >> inside politics sourced by the best reporters now. welcome to "inside politics."

i'm in for john king. with us to share the reporting and insights krn's phil mattingmat matting mattingly, caitlin huey-burns, and jackie kucinich. last night hillary clinton returned the favor she received from bernie sanders during the first debate when senator declared that americans don't care about her e-mails. this time she accepted sanders' apology by the data breach by his campaign staff saying she doesn't think the american people are interested in that either. they turned to the many unresolved differences. >> the truth is it's relatively easy for a powerful nation like america to overthrow a dictator. it is very hard to predict the unintended consequences and the turmoil and the instability that follows after you overthrow that dictator. i think secretary clinton and i

have a fundamental disagreement. i'm not quite the fan of regime change i believe she is. >> clinton argued the u.s. can't walk away from the world's problems. no matter how messy and complex they are. >> if the united states does not lead, there is not another leader. there's a vacuum and we have to lead if we're going to be successful. >> clinton also went hard after donald trump. >> we also need to make sure that the really discriminatory messages that trump is sending around the world don't fall on receptive ears. he's becoming isis' best recruiter. they are going to people showing videos of donald trump insulting islam and muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists. i want to explain why it's not in america's interest to react with this kind of fear and respond to this sort of bigotry. >> the fact checkers said

there's no proof that isis is showing people those videos. we'll leave that aside. jackie, we'll start with the scandal. for those people thinking that data breachgate might be a thing. it didn't turn out to be so but the apology from bernie sanders at the beginning. >> yes, i apologize. >> secretary clinton, do you accept? [ cheers and applause ] >> not only do i app busineolog secretary clinton and work together an independent investigation but i want to apologize to my supporters. this is not the type of campaign that we run, and if i find anybody else involved in this, they'll also be fired. >> he's apologizing to everybody. >> yeah. >> who won the noncontroversy? >> i have to say hillary clinton did. she decided it wasn't in her benefit to really turn the screws on bernie sanders on this.

and the fact he apologized. those who are covering this on friday when it broke were saying, okay, at least the debate we'll have the moment in the debate that might create tension off the bat. completely defused. it seemed to catch martin o'malley off guard. there wasn't any bickering. there was a lot of apologizing and accepting apologies. so it really, as you siaid, the scandal that wasn't. >> his own campaign was out in front of where bernie sanders was. >> they didn't align messages going into the debate. i think 30 minutes before the debate the advisor shot out a debate comparing the mistake they made the level of hillary clinton made to iraq which caught us off guard and got our hopes up for a tense debate and nothing happened. my lifelong dream of three hours of debate over the intry candidate sis of voter targeting program disappeared quickly. >> you mean this is done, finished, completely gone.

we won't hear about it anymore? >> bernie sanders had two opportunities to go after hillary clinton on kind of tech issues. right. and he declined this time, again. so we haven't really seen him put up a big fight against her. foreign policy is where we saw the distinction. >> you raised the case that perhaps bernie sanders has a bigger problem than data breachgate. it might be where the campaign is heading now. yes, he's winning in new hampshire. we showed the latest poll for the boston herald. the bigger number for him is who do you think is going to be best to handle terrorism and that's clinton 60% and bernie sanders 25%. it's becoming an isis election. >> right. it doesn't play where for where bernie's strength is talking about economic inequality. that's his passion. that's what he wants to talk about. you can see it. phil mentioned his staff not

being on the same page time and time again you see the staff being more into this. the jockey before the horse. and the fact is it's bernie's campaign and his staff wants to be more negative with hillary. he wants to talk about the issues. he wants to focus on, especially economic inequality and the fact he says the millionaires and billionaires are the ones who run this country. and the staff tries to push him toward guns, toward isis, toward more engaging with hillary. he doesn't want to do it. >> is the moment passed? have people stopped feeling the bern? >> i don't know if the moment has passed but jonathan is right. he tries to use -- you saw it he would be asked about one thing and bring it back to the economic issue because that's -- the people who like and support him some of the more prominent people i was talking to last week they love that this is his economic message and want him to talk about it. he's playing to his base. >> it's interesting hillary clinton to turn her focus from

bernie sanders to the republicans and really to donald trump. she talked about that every chance she can. what is donald trump talking about now? his new friend vladmir putin. the almost endorsement. putin says that donald trump seems like a, you know, a big leader a big guy in the a campaign. and donald trump said that's okay. let's listen to what trump said yesterday. >> they're accusing me putin called him brilliant. that's not good. well, you know, isn't it sort of nice if countries are always fighting with maybe we get along and let them do -- right? look, we're all tough guys but wouldn't it be nice if russia and us could knock out an enemy together and not us bear the full costs sometimes, like, i don't know we're always fighting. >> we all predicted the putin forming the alliance that win the election.

naturally. if you look over the republican party it's not necessarily a rarity for them to talk about putin's strength. to want almost putin's strength as they criticize barack obama. when you look at the field and what look at putin's russia has done historically and over the last couple of years in ukraine and syria. it's jarring almost to accept the compliment and say it's a great thing and going to help the relationship going forward. >> here in iowa conservative audience applaud when a candidate for the gop nomination is talking about make common cause with russia. keep in mind it's the evil empire a few years and they're applauding. let's get along now. russia and putin who obviously has a record of transgressions. >> this is a reporter panel here. the reporters don't love putin. >> trump's opponents are going bonkers. >> yeah. john kasich, i think, released a fake campaign bumper sticker

trump/putin 2016. and, you know, this is completely at odds with what the other republicans are saying, for sure. but what is remarkable about the turn to foreign policy and national security is that it has helped donald trump or at least fuelled his supporters because of what he just mentioned. that talk of strength and that's been natsing to watch. >> -- fascinating to watch. >> other than driving trump's competitors insane i think we saw the applause of the crowd. i have yet to see what is going to hurt trump. >> maybe we'll find it next block. see you in five. a fall out from last week's cnn republican debate and the clash between senators ted cruz an marco rubio. for this week's politicians saying the darnest things. we give you two hillarys, a palin, and ghosts of campaign past. >> can we focus? i'm running for president again and i'm getting advice from the

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two things are clear. the bro mance between donald trump and ted cruz is more or less still on. the gloves they are off between senators cruz and senator marco rubio. especially when it comes to immigration reform. the back and forth continued on the campaign trail the whole week. >> he supports legalization. and his hope is once he got in the general election to then start talking about legalization as a way to attract more voters. >> let's have a moment of simple clarity. i oppose amnesty. i oppose citizenship, i oppose

legalization for illegal aliens. i always have and i always will. >> so game on, jackie, between the two candidates and a lot of political insiders felt will be there at the issue that political insiders will tell you is one thing that might be decided on between them. >> rubio did a good job of putting cruz on the defensive the entire week. particularly with the 2013 amendment to the immigration bill that rubio introduced. it looked like cruz might be supporting a not a pathway to citizenship but a way for people to stay out of the country who aren't supposed to be here. he spent the week explaining it was a poison bill. it was this and that. putting cruz on the defensive for immigration is good for rubio. >> are these not shark-infested waters for rubio? >> that's exactly right. and if you look out to iowa any conversation about the issue of

immigration where one of the candidates is not only on the record of being supported plainly a pathway to citizenship but part of the effort to do it two years ago in congress is not helpful for that candidate. is it fatal in the primary over the long haul? i'm not sure about that. it's not helpful for rubio in iowa. i think giving up ground in new hampshire is rubio has to find a way to do well. >> we'll talk about that. >> it depends on winners and losers in the debate. it depends on whether you're looking a the primary or the general. ted cruz is well positioned on the issue within the primary. it was remarkable how he was tripped up this week and how further he has been pushed to the right on this issue just in the past week. at the debate he said he didn't intend to support legalization by the end of the week he was saying he would never support it. in fact, talking about deporting the 11 million here. that's the first time that cruz has been been able to answer

that question. >> i don't think there's any limit how far he's willing to go on this. let's talk about the state of the race in general now. let's talk about the latest poll. a fox news poll taken after the debate. it gives us a sense where the race is now. donald trump is out in front 39 percent. that's way up from where he was last month in the poll. ted cruz up from last month in that poll. mario rubio slipped. not a lot but he's not going up. and jeb bush and ben carsonw wa down. marco rubio let's talk about marco rubio. how long can he wait to win? >> what is his pathway? it's a big question you've heard from donors in states like iowa and new hampshire and south carolina. what is the map going forward? i think one of the most interesting things happening is marco rubio locked up the biggest prominent donors you can get. he's telling them something about the pathway forward.

if you look at the polling and look where delegates are coming from there's no clear pathway forward. it stay under the radar and when people hear his personal story they'll come to him. if you finish in the top two or three in iowa or new hampshire you can maybe parlay that into sticking going forward. that said again you talk to people on the ground in new hampshire and saying what is the strategy here? where does he go? there's a real chance he's not top two or three in new hampshire. >> very possible. one important fact to keep in mind. the modern history of the gop nominee process. no nominee has gotten the nomination in iowa or new hampshire. can rubio change history and go over two and find his way to the nomination? we're going to find out. >> cat lynn, you were in new hampshire. >> right. it is an open race there. the rubio campaign seems to be banking on the nationalzation of the race that we've been seeing which is interesting doing a lot

of tv, you know, coming into these states and having kind of a general overview of them and not really hunkering down. so new hampshire is an interesting place where, you know, chris christie has momentum there. can he throw a wrench in rubio's path to the nomination. that's a big question. but if rubio is able to manage securing the nomination if he's able to do that that will speak to how this race is nationalized. but ted cruz is so well positioned coming out of iowa in the southern states. >> and there's jeb bush. jeb bush also essentially going all in in new hampshire throwing around j-bombs in new hampshire. let's listen to what jeb bush said about donald trump there. >> just one other thing i have to get it off my chest. donald trump is a jerk. [ applause ] you can't -- you can't -- you cannot insult your way to the presidency. you can't disparage women,

hispanics, disabled people. who is he kidding? >> a couple of things, actually, i don't think -- i think that was unprompted at the event. i think he brought it up because he had a chance to say it. jeb bush saying donald trump can't insult his way to candidacy. >> jeb bush is coming off a strongest debate performance that we've seen jeb bush have. one of the reasons it was because he actually got under donald trump's skin for a minute. donald trump is totally ruined jeb's parade. he didn't think this was the race he would be running. he's been trying to recalibrate. >> and donald trump got in the day after jeb bush and has been on top of this race ever since. and jeb bush's problem now is he's still trying to convince his donors to stay with him instead of all the other candidates are busy cultivating new support, they hope. >> one fast point, too. what jeb said in the same event

i think it was a fascinating point. we're going to see more of. saying you guys have the important task. this crucial role. if you elect donald trump that's going say something about you guys. >> it's on you. >> and you know new hampshire the electorate is conscious of their status. >> 25 seconds. last word here. in a way it may not hurt donald trump. it might hurt everyone else competing in new hampshire. >> yeah, i think that's true. they're looking to take that lane, a lane separate from trump. i think the interesting part about jeb bush is donors were weary of the attacks on rubio. they like this. so maybe this is something that can cat put him. we've said it a lot. >> all right. next up our reporters open the notebooks to get you ahead of what is next on the campaign trail including the nicest political gift we've received from either political party in 20 years. (politely) wait, wait, wait! you can't put it in like that,

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the let's head around the "inside politics" table and ask our reporters to get you ahead of the political news around the corner. jackie. >> before bernie sanders data base some of the most prominent fans were starting to worry he wasn't out there. he wasn't traveling as much as clinton. and they were worrying he was losing the momentum he gained over the summer. one of the two congressman that endorsed sanders wants to see him on tv more. and another supporter anita turner hopes he uses the data base melee to get out there more. he's going iowa a little bit next week. we'll see if he picks up the pace like some of the supporters he hopes. >> how soon after christmas do the air wars truly begin in iowa? so you now have ted cruz

dropping -- i'm sorry you have marco rubio supporters dropping two mail pieces on ted cruz. you have ted cruz with an ad. we haven't seen the fireworks we have a feeling a inin ining is . it's unlike ads are coming this week with the holiday. i have to think it's coming soon. the fact that cruz is hitting rubio on immigration i have to think it's rubio and coming soon. >> there's something unusual going on in new hampshire the cycle. that is that the race is pretty unsettled. the establishment or the main stream republicans don't yet have a candidate that they're favoring and trump is leading in a state that tends to favor the more main stream republican. it's a wide open race there. christie has the momentum but rubio is doing well. and ted cruz could be a wild

card there depending how well he does in iowa. does it give him momentum for new hampshire? republicans in the state are growing concerned not only the future of the party if trump succeeds, but also the future of their own primary. >> new hampshire nervousness. >> republicans have said big things about focussing on the south. the march 1st sec primary but few backed it up like ted cruz with action. he's in the midst of the second barn storming tour. it will wrap up on wednesday. you talk to him the heavy evangelical base down there. his focus on the states sets him apart. there's not a lot of time to refocus and rejigger your team up. ted cruz is there. that's an area where if he does well in iowa he thinks he can carry over set a fire wall up in the south. one problem is jeb brush probably had the best way. going to sec football games.

that's where you should focus. it's not where ted cruz is focussed but his team is down there. >> ground game seems to work in the sec. that's what i know. i would like to highlight a rare gift. namely january. the whole month you're getting it under the tree for the first election in a long time. the iowa caucuses are in february for the first time since 1996. in 2012 and 2008 they were actually on january 3rd. happy new year. so what does it mean besides no new year's eve in des moines? the campaigns have a month to make their cases. there is still time to change their fortunes. maybe. most of all, it means there are choices. choices that haven't existed in awhile. how much time to spend in iowa, new hampshire, and beyond. the strategists i talked to say the candidates with the biggest choices is marco rubio. also donald trump. is he capable of managing

expectations in iowa or go all in? the campaigns are well advised to use this gift this january wisely. or they might not get one again. that's it for "inside politics." thank you for sharing your sunday morning. "state of the union" with jake tapper starts now. showdown. new rivalries. >> does ted cruz rule -- i have never supported legalization and i do not intend to support legalization. >> and new beef. >> donald is great at the one liners. he's a chaos candidate. >> did the debate reshuffle the republican deck? candidate rand paul will be here live. plus, sanders and clinton playing nice on stage while their campaigns behind the scenes do battle. >> does secretary clinton deserven